Cynthia Toops, A Bashful Young Potato, 1997
polymer, 2 3/4″ x 2 3/4″

Who would have guessed that the winter of 1997 would become especially significant to polymer history?  Let’s look back 15 years to the Winter 1997 “PolyInformer”, the newsletter of the then 6 year old National Polymer Clay Guild , to see what was happening.

The front page announces the first NPCG conference “Making History:  Pushing the Craft of Polymer Clay” at the Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts in Gatlinburg, Tennessee.   Wanting to go beyond a presentation of new polymer techniques, Steven Ford and Jeanne Sturdevant planned the September 1997 conference with a particular focus on exploring relationships between polymer and other areas of craft.  Techniques and cross-over ideas from woodworking, fiber, printmaking, metal, ceramics, were to be examined in relation to polymer.   The conference included wood worker, Dan Peters, fiber artist, Janice Everett, printmaker, Maggie Aston, metal-smith, Chris Hentz and ceramicist, Will Truncheon.  Some of the featured instructors in polymer were: Kathleen Dustin, Steven Ford, Cynthia Toops and Pier Voulkos.  A juried exhibition, “Recent History of Polymer Clay” shown during the conference included Cythina Toops’ wall piece (above).

On page 10, there is an introduction and a full schedule for the MIPCES show, the Masters’ Invitational Polymer Clay Exhibition and Sale to be held that May at the Old Church Cultural Center in Demarest, NJ.   The brain child of Elise Winters- what would be her first of many- this invitational exhibit of experimental works brought together both masters and emerging artists in an effort to promote the medium to a larger audience.   Educational workshops, sales and general public outreach were key components of the concept.

Not solely devoted to future happenings, the newsletter also includes some post-event comments by Tory Hughes, “Reflections on Ravensdale”.   This seminal 1996 gathering in the Seattle area became the first of a series of nationally attended conferences sponsored by the NorthWest Polymer Clay Guild.   Ravensdale was a highly organized event with a full schedule of discussions, critiques, demos, and an exhibition.   In an effort to help provide focus after the intensity of the Ravensdale experience, Hughes wrote about personal intention, quality workmanship, polymer legitimacy and its integration with other materials.  She even addressed the need for an academic curriculum.  These themes are as relevant now as then.

Big picture polymer philosophy is presented in a discussion by Carol Shelton on what to call the amazing new medium.   Shelton makes the argument that using name brands is confusing and all varieties should be known uniformly as “polymer clay”.  As evidenced by a recent PAA post, the topic of nomenclature is on- going.

And there was more…..

Several pages are devoted to the always challenging problem of how to photograph your work.   The technology of photography has changed dramatically over the past 15 years, but the need for high quality images has not.  Photography is likely to be an increasingly crucial component of professional presentation as more opportunities, juries, exhibitions and collections move on- line.  Not surprisingly, concepts of professional presentation were an important topic of discussion at the RAM symposium in October 2011.

To round things out, there is a brief glimpse into Sandra McCaw’s technique for subtle shifts of graduated color which she already was employing in her dimensional-looking quilted canes.   Coincidentally, a “how-to” of the “Skinner Blend” technique had debuted in the prior issue of the PolyInformer (Fall 1996).  A profile of artist, Sue Patterson, an interview with ornament maker Sharon Sahl, registration info and the form for the already annual Shrinemont retreat in Orkney Springs and the usual notices of local guild meetings, workshops, etc. completed the issue.

It is interesting to contemplate what might be in another 15 years.

Follow these links for more information on Arrowmont, and MIPCES.

Nancy Banks, Necklace, 2006, polymer, wire

The Mingei International Museum of Art show, “New Jewelry in a New Medium”, includes the work of 64 artists.  This exhibition evolved out of work acquired by the Mingei from Elise Winters’s Polymer Collection Project and the absorption of the Bead Museum formerly of Glendale, Arizona.  Many of the less familiar names relate to the early years of polymer exploration.

Here is the list:

Dan Adams and Cynthia Toops, Jamey Allen, Kathleen Amt, Deborah M. Anderson, Nancy Banks, Meisha Barbee, Louise Belcher, Shellie Brooks, Donna Carty, Jean Comport, Dan Cormier, Katherine Dewey, Grant Diffendaffer, Marcea Donovan, Dayle Doroshow, Kathleen Dustin, Celie Fago, Janet Farris, Lori Feiss, Steven Ford and David Forlano, Galdieri, Gwen Gibson, Kathy Gregson, Dorothy Greynold, Ruth Ann Grove, Michael Grove, Lindly Haunani, Amelia Helm, Jean Hornberger, Tory Hughes, Joanne Hunot, Marie Johannes, Donna Kato, Kaz Kono, Klew (Karen Lewis), Z. Kripke, Jacqueline Lee Cherie, Sandra Lentz, Christine Leu, Laura (Oakes) Liska, Margaret Maggio, Barbara McGuire, Cheryl Michell, Linda Pederson, Carolyn Potter, Marion Quinn, Lorraine Randecker, Margaret Regan, Nan Roche, the Rouse House (Mary Rouse), Marie Segal, Rudi Sennett, Ileen Shefferman, Sarah Shriver, The Sisters of San Francisco, Liz Tamayo, Jan Twink, Pier Voulkos, Liv and Joy Waters, Andree Weinman, Elise Winters.

“New Jewelry in a New Medium”, Mingei International Museum, Balboa Park, San Diego, through June 17, 2012.

Polymer, polymer clay, FIMO, Sculpey, Premo, Katoclay, Cernit?   Have you ever wondered how and why this colored, synthetic modeling material got its common name?   Prior to 1990 both artists and publications describe the material using a brand name like FIMO or polyform with a modifier such as “modeling compound”.  There is no mention of either “polymer” or “clay”.   Then in the late 1980’s Nan Roche began to write her groundbreaking book, “The New Clay”.   As she tells it,

Both the term “New Clay” and the term “Polymer Clay” were not used anywhere else by anyone prior to my book.  Both names were devised by me and Seymore Bress to have a new way to describe a “new” material and make it possible to refer to all the clay brands with one descriptive term.  The use of the word clay is referring to the way the material is worked. The use of the word polymer is the result of my investigation into the identity of the material. Initially, artists & users were not aware of what the material was made of.  The companies did not describe it as a vinyl chloride polymer in their literature.

With the publication of Roche’s book in 1991, the term “polymer clay” began to be used widely and continues to this day.

Over the past 20 plus years polymer has evolved as a product, has achieved worldwide use, and has generally become better known.  Polymer art is now included in the collections of major American museums and artists who work with it routinely exhibit at premier shows.   Is it time for the terminology to evolve again to just “polymer”?   For museums and galleries this eliminates internal and public confusion over classifications.  Polymer art does not belong with their ceramic collections.  It may be that there will eventually be a category for plastics or alternative materials in which case polymer is one of the various synthetics.   From a utilitarian point of view, the use of the material has become increasingly diverse so that many of the clay-like qualities are secondary to what artists do with it.  The term “clay” also leads to confusion in the retail market.  Customers who hear the word, “clay” often assume that an item is heavy and fragile, neither of which is true.   However, using the word, “polymer” alone frequently elicits the question, “What is it?” and provides a moment of education.

As polymer art moves forward in time, the term, “polymer clay” is unlikely to be abandoned, but the single descriptor, “polymer” could be embraced as a clarified and simpler description of this material.   And, the question of identification probably will continue to be refined.  As Roche recently asked,

I wonder if, as we become more sophisticated in our terminology regarding plastics in art, that the more precise descriptor will be vinyl polymer or that the term will just remain “polymer” which of course describes all the other plastics?  It’s an interesting problem as we move into the 21st century and the use of art materials broadens.

Pier Voulkos, Bracelet, 1995, polymer
1  3/4″ x 3″, Gift of the Bead Museum, Glendale, Arizona
Photo by Tim Siegert

“New Jewelry in a New Medium”, an exhibition of polymer art opens today on the Balboa Campus of the Mingei International Museum in San Diego, California.   The show focuses on individual beads and beaded adornments such as necklaces and bracelets.  The art work on view came to the Mingei through the efforts of Elise Winters and her Museum Collection Project and from the collection of the Bead Museum formerly in Glendale, Arizona.    This exhibition debuts both collections to the public.

“New Jewelry in a New Medium” will run from December 17, 2011 through June 17, 2012.

Diane Dunville, Night Dream, 1998, 4″ x 7″

As the winter solstice approaches and the days get darker, the soft glow of an interior lamp is especially attractive.   Translucent polymer allows light to shine through it, inspiring a number of artists to explore the concept of illumination.   Here are several notable examples:

D. Dunville, Mood Indigo
1999, 8″ x 13″

Diane Dunville’s background is in illustration but with polymer she moved into the realm of 3D.  Fascinated by glass art, Dunville created a series of lamps during the late 1990’s.   After building a foundation of mesh, Dunville added layers of translucent polymer which were then textured and carved.   The results are a graphic and playful blend of color and pattern which make for bold, decorative surfaces when unlit and cast a colorful glow when lit.

Barbara Sperling, Lotus Heron Flambeau, 2006
14″ x 7″ x 4.5″
polymer, electric wire and socket

Nature is almost always the inspiration behind Barbara Sperling’s delicate imagery and intricate cane patterns.   In this wall sconce the frontal presentation of flowers and fish hover on a surface patterned with dragonflies.   Coordinated side panels show flora and fauna imagery formed in shallow relief.  The combination of the floating fish and flowers with the molded birds and cattails is evocative of the difference between land and water.

B. Bishoff and J.M. Syron, Bubble Lamp, 2000
62″ x 12″ x 12″, tiger maple, polymer, maple,
electric fittings

Bonnie Bishoff and J.M. Syron make a variety of lamps that combine wooden frames with polymer shades.  Bishoff’s polymer surfaces present subtle, overall patterns that recall the basic, repetitive units of nature, which complement the organic properties of the wood.   Honeycomb, flames, bubbles, sea urchins and barnacles are among her repertoire.   Meant to be incorporated into someone’s home décor, these lamps are understated but highly distinctive.

Jeffrey Lloyd Dever, Serendipity, 2011
19”w x 13”h x 11”d
polymer, steel wire (reclaimed coat hangers)
plastic coated copper wire

Once again the Wayne Art Center’s annual Craft Forms exhibition will include a stunning work of polymer art.  Jeffrey Lloyd Dever’s Serendipity is not only included in the show but featured on the cover of the invitation to the opening on December 2, 2011.  The center, located in Wayne, PA, is presenting its 17th annual showcase of fine craft.  This year the juror is Elizabeth Agro from the Philadelphia Museum of Art.  Polymer artists included in prior annual shows have been Cynthia Toops, Elise Winters, Ford and Forlano and Loretta Lam.   The Craft Forms 2011 exhibit will be open through January 21, 2012.

Elissa Farrow-Savos, How does she get herself into these messes?
2011, 13h  x 7w  x 11d
polymer, magic-sculpt epoxy, oil paint, vintage surplus army zipper

Telling a story is the heart of Elissa Farrow-Savos’ work.  Combining polymer with found objects, Farrow-Savos’ sculptures speak to the eye and the soul.   Most of her work is feminine in orientation and explores the timeless tales of women’s lives.  While her first love was figure drawing and painting, when Farrow-Savos returned to her studio after a pause for childbearing, she no longer felt satisfaction in 2D work.  Floundering, Farrow-Savos happened upon polymer and soon discovered that sculpting provided her with a new form of narration.

Elissa Farrow-Savos, Stories she told, 2011
26h X 14w  x 14d
polymer, oil paint, vintage: wire basket, wheels, film canisters, book pages

“Stories she told” is about the important stories women carry.   These are the accounts shared with other women, both contemporary and younger.  They are told by the advice givers, who present the lore, wisdom and history of one family or every family.   This figure’s contemplative gaze and the slight tension of her lips suggest words about to emerge.   Supporting her head and torso, a cage-like form on wheels alludes to the constraints of women’s lives that often surround their stories and of their perpetual need to be able to move according to circumstances.   Farrow-Savos offers another layer of meaning:  “I gave her eight wheels/legs and eight little containers of book fragments as a reference to the African legend of Anansi - seen as a spider, famous for skill and wisdom in speech, a teller of tales.”

Elissa Farrow-Savos, Mother/Daughter, 2010
31h  x 20w x 12d
polymer, oil paint, vintage baby doll carriage parts
Farrow-Savos’ piece, “Mother/ Daughter” portrays two female figures back to back on baby carriage wheels.   The subject of mothers and daughters is important to Farrow-Savos, who lost her own mother when young and is now the mother of two daughters herself.    Here, the younger woman is wide eyed and looks out with an inquisitive gaze while the older woman’s expression is more wary.   Both literally and figuratively, the two female see the world in different ways and yet as Farrow-Savos says, “undoubtedly have each other’s back”.   For Farrow-Savos, the baby carriage is a platform for the mother daughter relationship.   This symbolic vehicle carries along the eternal progression of mothers having daughters and daughters then becoming mothers.  This cycle insists on movement through time and consequently changes of perspective.   Of course, all mothers with daughters have experienced this journey looking both ways.

Elissa Farrow-Savos, A Suitable Girl, 2009
19h  x 8w  x 14d
polymer, oil paint, vintage: wooden wedge and vise part, cow restraint chain, metal weights, African beads
Issues of female degradation and enslavement present Savos in a more political mode. The poignant “A Suitable Girl” addresses the idea of female mutilation as a means of controlling both the woman and all of her options.  Farrow-Savos writes, “I wanted to represent the heavy burden that this “chastity belt” of a procedure represents. These girls are not “suitable” for marriage unless they are subjected to a procedure that ensures a lifetime of pain, and a guarantee that they will never enjoy sex, so will never stray from their husband. And yet the girls cannot refuse, or they will be shunned, considered less than a woman their whole lives, with no place for them to fit into society. In the sculpture I hoped to represent the entrapment of this procedure.”  While Farrow-Savos had a particular circumstance in mind, without foreknowledge, this dignified, upright female figure could just as well be an interpretation of female bondage through slavery.

A lighter note is struck in “How does she get herself into these messes?”.  A tightly seated figure is wrapped in 10 feet of actual zipper.  Farrow-Savos says she is the visual translation of the feeling we all have when we find ourselves caught “in an unpleasant situation, usually of our own making, and we want to actually smack our own forehead and exclaim, ‘How did I get myself into this?’.”  Perhaps it is the vaguely foolish treatment of the head-wrap and hair that enables us to understand why Farrow-Savos continues, “so exasperating, and yet funny and universal.”  Beyond its wry humor, this piece relates to much of Farrow-Savos’ imagery because women often find themselves caught in unhappy situations -sometimes of their own making, but sometimes not.

Throughout Elissa Farrow-Savos’ work one finds other interpretations of female themes. No less universal but more internally focused, Farrow-Savos examines maternity, identity, and women’s dreams often infusing her pieces with hints of humor or twinges of melancholy.  The combination of found objects, many of which are domestic in origin and Farrow-Savos’ sensitively sculpted forms furthers the larger concept of women’s relationships to their world and each other.

Some of the earliest polymer work done in the United States was related to the technique of caning, or constructing a pattern that remains intact through the length of a cylinder.  Many polymer artists began with cane work.  While some moved on, others became extremely skilled at creating and combining patterns. Sandra McCaw is one of the experts.  

Sandra McCaw, Earrings, 2006, 3″ H x 5/8″ W
Polymer, 23 K gold leaf, gold filled wire

Precision caning is one of her distinctive stylistic traits.   The density and color of her elegant compositions recall the visual effects of Turkish tiles.   McCaw arranges variations of her complex cane designs into pastiches of pattern that undulate with interior movement.  These component areas are often defined by contrasting metallic borders.

Sandra McCaw, Falling Leaves Necklace, 2007, detail

Subtle color gradations from dark to light and back again add dimension.  McCaw then translates all this visual activity into a highly refined and elegant piece of jewelry.  Simple geometric form and a sense of harmonious balance allows the eye to absorb the whole with ease and focus on the details.

Polymer: Journey to New Terrain, October 21-23, 2011at Wingspread

Seeing polymer exhibited in the Racine Art Museum’s elegant environment was a feast for the eyes, but the accompanying symposium, “Polymer: The Journey to New Terrain”, was like an all-you-can-eat buffet.  Beginning Friday and lasting through Sunday, attendees gobbled up plates of ideas about the current and future state of polymer art.   Topics were juicy, open ended and conversation flowed.

Here is a sampler of what was served:

Friday afternoon’s topics on the table:

•    How the polymer museum collection project evolved.  Why RAM
•    What does it mean to have polymer in major museums?  How can artists and museums bring greater public appreciation and recognition?
•    Polymer in university settings- why not?  How?  What might be included in a curriculum?
•    Mini culture clash as non-hierarchical, open polymer community meets inherent structure of museum world

Panel: Bruce Pepich, Lena Vigna, Elise Winters, jeweler/educator-Teresa Faris

Saturday Morning’s topics on the table:

•    Who- visual introduction to Boundary Breakers
•    Significance to artist’s career of high end show experience, top gallery representation and museum credentials.  How are these related?
•    How did diversity of polymer artists’ backgrounds affect the field?  Help, hinder or both?
•    Why polymer in a museum raises issues of classification, conservation, and integration for curators
•    Public image of polymer
•    What is museum worthy work?
•    When is poor craftsmanship okay?
•    Return of beauty- what is the difference between beauty and prettiness?  Is beauty related to value?

Panel:  Pepich, Vigna, Rachel Carren, Kathleen Dustin, Tory Hughes, Pier Voulkos

Saturday afternoon’s topics on table:

•    What does it mean to collaborate?
•    How might critique provide a form of collaboration?
•    In art jewelry the brooch is the standard, why is so much polymer jewelry related to the neck?
•    Sustainability- environmental issues for artist and for earth
•    Activism – content in polymer art?  Bigger statements?  Personal statements?  Does narrative exist in polymer art?
•    Identity- why the curatorial choice to use only “polymer” dropping the modifier, “clay”?
•    Where now, what next for polymer?  Building momentum
•    Can diversity of intentions co-exist with camaraderie in the polymer community?  Is stratification inevitable?

Panel:  Pepich, Vigna, Bonnie Bishoff and J.M. Syron, Steven Ford and David Forlano, Cynthia Toops

Sunday Morning’s topics on the table:

•    Collective effort to move forward between artists and museums.  How to support artists?  How to support the museum?
•    Professional standards- documentation, photography
•    Potential for another symposium?

Panel: Pepich, Vigna

By the end everyone was full to the brim.  Much had been discussed, resulting in more questions than answers, but participants left with appetites whetted for more.

photo courtesy of Debra DeWolff

Woody Rudin writes:

As the events surrounding the opening of the Racine Art Museum’s new exhibition, Terra Nova: Polymer Art at the Crossroads, played out last weekend, a line from the old comic George Burns kept playing through my head: “Happiness is having a large, loving, caring, close-knit family —- in another city.”

Had Burns been able to join the rest of us in Racine for this historic event, I’m sure he would have been smiling at the ironic twist away from his original joke. The Polymer family’s national gathering in this welcoming Wisconsin city had all the attributes the comic held up as ideal; tight embraces and truly felt kisses coming from those who have been honestly missed, broad smiles and generous kvelling over the achievements of others, the continuous gurgle of eager conversation that did not ebb during four full days of activity both at RAM and at the Wingspread conference center. (For those to whom Yiddish is a foreign tongue, the word “kvell” means to gush with immense pride and pleasure over the accomplishments of others, to grin with uncontainable delight when a friend or family member accomplishes something beyond all expectations.)

And those accomplishments were on full and glorious display at the Friday night opening of the first major museum exhibition to feature polymer based art. At the entrance of the show, a dazzling wall installation of over eighty fanciful, imaginative floral and anthropomorphic figures by Jeffrey Lloyd Dever titled “Edensong Revisited- Buzz, Skitter and Crawl.” With eyes popped open after viewing that piece and showcases filled with Jeff’s other creations, visitors then were led into discrete gallery spaces filled with a collection of works from seven other identified “Boundary Breakers” in polymer art history:  Cynthia Toops, Tory Hughes, Kathleen Dustin, Steven Ford and David Forlano, Bonnie Bishoff and J. M. Syron, Pier Voulkos and Elise Winters.  Each of these artists is represented by numerous works, some from within the RAM collection and others on loan. The exhibition concludes with the works of twenty-one other polymer artists included in the “collection project.”

To pay full respect to each of them, let me now call the Roll of Honor in the order they are represented in the checklist that accompanies the exhibition: Barbara Sperling, Debra DeWolff, Maggie Maggio, Wendy Wallin Malinow, Lindly Haunani, Melanie West, Rachel Carren, Judy Kuskin, Dan Cormier, Carol Simmons, Lori Feiss, Ronnie Kirsch, Carl Hornberger, Sarah Shriver, Linda Pedersen, Laura Liska, Gwen Gibson, Nan Roche, Sandra McCaw, Linda Goff and Amy Zinman. That hard-cover volume, Terra Nova: Polymer Art at the Crossroads, by Rachel Carren, Bruce Pepich and Lena Vigna, is available for purchase through the RAM gift shop.  Included you will find, in addition to all the extraordinary photography done by Penina Meisels,  an historical essay, an interview with Elise Winters, a conversation on the state of polymer art between museum director, Bruce Pepich and curator Lena Vigna, sections devoted to each of the boundary breakers, and a concluding section devoted to the “collection project” artists mentioned above.  Credit the elegant presentation and layout to Dever Designs, work done by Jeff and his design team.

Because museums, like libraries, are places of quietude if not hushed reverence, the commentary I heard most often repeated during the opening night came in single words or in quick phrases —– “Wow! WOW!!….How cool…..Gorgeous……Un(bleep)ing believable.”

Following Friday’s festivities, the extended Polymer family moved en masse to the beautiful Johnson Foundation Wingspread campus for a weekend symposium that brought together artists, museum board members, collectors, and curators. In the midst of a center designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, we gawked at the architecture and took advantage of the kind of hospitality and service normally found at royal banquets; endless rounds of food and dessert delicacies, bottomless bottles of lovely wines, hospitality refrigerators stocked full with Dove ice cream bars and other sinful treats. I’m not sure how many non-indulgers there were amongst us; all I can give testimony to is that the belt on my trousers lost a notch as my stomach expanded.

But let’s get back to the serious stuff. Presiding over each of the symposium sessions, the incomparable Executive Director of RAM, Bruce Pepich, aided by his Curator of Exhibitions, Lena Vigna. For two solid days, Bruce and Lena led each person in our conference room through a journey that combined deep thought, raucous laughter, audience participation and emotional bonding. Each of the “boundary breakers” was included on the stage as part of a discussion panel.

Let me share with you some of Bruce’s most trenchant comments. We’re all familiar with the Declaration of Independence and its alluring call to practice the “pursuit of happiness,” which we engaged in full heartedly at Wingspread. Bruce issued a bold call from the stage that I think of now as a communal Declaration of Interdependence. Here’s what he said; “We’re all interconnected now; the museum, the artists and my own professional career. When one of us succeeds, we all benefit.” It was clearly, again in Bruce’s words, “a Kumbaya moment.”

He spoke to us about the idea that with this exhibition at RAM, artistic history was being made, that the word “polymer” has now gained a new level of artistic integrity. “A sea change has occurred because the art has come not just to us, but to other major museums as well.”

Although Bruce provided dozens of spontaneous laugh lines during the hours of discussion we avidly sat through and participated in, the most exuberant guffaws were produced by Cynthia Toops. We were discussing the deadly serious issue of environmental “sustainability,” how artists can contribute to minimizing carbon footprints and environmental healing. That’s when Cynthia raised her hand in the audience and in her most gentle voice proclaimed, “My contribution is that I work very small.” The house literally roared, everyone fully aware of Cynthia’s micro-mosaic masterpieces.

On Sunday, attendees left with the feeling that this was a momentous moment that marked the end of one stage of polymer history and the beginning of the next. We wish all of you could have been there. For those of you who couldn’t attend, there will be audio and video recordings available at a later date. Keep your eye on the Polymer Art Archive for those announcements. And for those who want immediate gratification in print, remember that you can order a copy of the book, Terra Nova: Polymer Art at the Crossroads, immediately. The pleasure was ours, and will be yours as you flip through each glorious page.

Photo: Mark Wollman, Racine Art Museum